media
cityfile · 12/21/09 04:43PM
• Diane Sawyer made her debut this evening as anchor of ABC's World News; Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the night's big attraction. [AP]
• Avatar pulled in $73 million at the domestic box office (and $232 million worldwide), although it would have made more if it hadn't snowed. [LAT, NYT]
• Yelp walked away from a deal to be bought by Google over the weekend. [TC]
• Radio giant Citadel Broadcasting Corporation has filed Chapter 11. [NYT]
• Jay Leno's already bad situation appears to be getting worse. [B&C, NYP]
• Howard Stern is in the middle of tense contract talks with Sirius XM right now, which is why he's threatening to leave the satellite radio company. [AP]
• Twitter will turn a profit in '09, although it still isn't worth $1 billion. [BN]
• Kim Kardashian plug products on Twitter for $10K/tweet. No joke. [AdAge]
• Useless year-end awards: Taylor Swift was named the AP's "entertainer of the year"; Madonna was deemed the "most famous celebrity of the decade."
More Reasons Why the White House Is a Better Beat Than Capitol Hill
John Cook · 12/21/09 04:28PMCondé Nast Can't Win
cityfile · 12/21/09 03:23PMThis hasn't been an easy year for Condé Nast (or any magazine publisher for that matter). But the company now has a bit more bad news to contend with in the form of a hacker who gained access to Condé's network this fall and swiped 1,100 files from GQ, Vogue, Teen Vogue, and Lucky, a number of which were later posted online. Condé isn't sure who was responsible for the breach, although it's since managed to get several of the sites that posted the files—a list that includes five alternate covers for GQ's December issue—to take them down. (One of the blogs that posted some of the offending content, fashionzag.blogspot.com, still has thumbnails of the five covers posted, although the links to the larger images no longer work.) Even more concerning, though, is that Condé Nast reports the hacker continues to have access to its network, and it can't guarantee more material won't be posted on the Web in the future. The company filed a copyright lawsuit against the unknown hacker(s) last week; the suit appears after the jump.
More Staffers Leave the New York Observer
Hamilton Nolan · 12/21/09 01:21PMCrack-Smoking TV Newsman Indistinguishable From Colleagues
Hamilton Nolan · 12/21/09 10:45AMThat's Unethical
Hamilton Nolan · 12/21/09 09:58AMAndrea Peyser Ridicules Dead Man, For Christmas
Hamilton Nolan · 12/21/09 09:37AMBrittany Murphy Is Not Big Enough for the Broadsheets
Ravi Somaiya · 12/21/09 08:46AMMichael Jackson Is More Important Than Afghanistan
Ravi Somaiya · 12/21/09 06:24AMThe Media Holiday Party Circuit: Drunken Ragers, Danceoffs, and Food at the ______ Party
Foster Kamer · 12/19/09 01:15PMcityfile · 12/18/09 04:30PM
• Charlie Gibson signed off as anchor of World News for the last time tonight. He's bidding goodbye to ABC News after a 34-year run. [ABC News, AP]
• More advertisers are fleeing from Tiger Woods; Tag Heuer is the latest. [NYP]
• The New York Times says its newsroom layoffs are done with. [Gawker, NYO]
• Twitter was hacked by last night; it's still unclear who was behind it. [LAT]
• Google is reportedly in talks to buy Yelp for as much as $500 million. [NYT]
• How much will Avatar rake in this weekend? That's the big question. [NYM]
• Time Warner Cable and Fox are embroiled in a big feud right now. [NYDN]
• Want to watch 3D movies in your living room? That's coming next. [WSJ]
• Is Dr. Drew Pinsky a real doctor, or does he just play one on TV? [TDB]
After E&P Comes Rock 'n Roll
Hamilton Nolan · 12/18/09 02:05PMTiger Woods, Media Equally Shady
Hamilton Nolan · 12/18/09 11:57AMClimate Summit Showdown
Ravi Somaiya · 12/18/09 08:39AMTabloid Sex Journalism Ethics Battle Is Most Ridiculous Current Battle
Hamilton Nolan · 12/17/09 04:35PMcityfile · 12/17/09 04:29PM
• The e-reader war rages on: If you want to read the Post on your Kindle on the way to work, you're out of luck; you'll have to buy a Sony Reader. [NYT, AFP]
• Project Runway will return to NYC (and Lifetime) for its 7th season. [NYDN]
• Budget Travel isn't shutting down, contrary to the rumors awhile back. But it does have a new owner now that Newsweek has sold it to a financial firm. [AP]
• Job cuts at the Times in the last two days have claimed 18 people. [AP]
• American Idol creator Simon Fuller is launching an online talent show. [NYT]
• Diane Sawyer's GMA debut next week is going to be "low-key." [USAT]
• It looks like Fox News will close out 2009 with its highest ratings ever. [B&C]
• Ashton Kutcher is bringing The Beautiful Life back. On YouTube. [NYT]
• The 16th annual SAG Award nominations were announced today. [LAT]
• Nancy O'Dell is quitting Access Hollywood. Why? Because the show is getting too sensational and she's a "nice and classy girl." But you knew that. [People]
Martha Stewart Gang-Related Drug Conspiracy Caught on Tape
Hamilton Nolan · 12/17/09 02:37PMIs the Daily News in Bed with Madam Kristin Davis?
cityfile · 12/17/09 11:30AMOn Tuesday, the New York Daily News took the New York Post to task over its new "sex, love and relationship" columnist Ashley Dupre, calling the ex-hooker's advice "useless" and bemoaning the fact Post editors have insisted on giving Dupre a "16th minute of fame." But the Daily News is a friend to publicity-seeking former sex workers, too! Look no further than Kristin Davis, the madam who claims she provided escorts to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Over the past 11 months, the News has mentioned Davis in no fewer than 16 articles, many of which link to her website and plug her self-published paperback book. (Just yesterday, she earned a mention when the Daily News' Gatecrasher column interviewed Davis about her plans to run against Spitzer for state comptroller in the event he decides to run himself.) It's almost like the paper has Davis on speed dial, doesn't it?